Port commissioners approved a revised policy that pushes port officials to fly coach when traveling in North America, Hawaii or Guam, and calls for business-class travel on international flights.

They will be able to upgrade domestic flights at their own expense, and first-class travel overseas will be covered by the port if business class is not available at required times.

The move comes three months after The Watchdog reported first-class air travel, fine dining and posh hotel stays by Unified Port of San Diego officials. At the time, agency leaders defended their travel policy as “appropriate and responsible.”

On Tuesday, the port board said they were responding to public concerns.

“This is going to be easy,” said Port Commissioner Lee Burdick at the outset of the discussion.

“Clearly the expression in the community is that the policy needs to be re-evaluated in light of current economic times.”

In March, The Watchdog reported that commissioners and port executives routinely flew first class, a benefit that can add hundreds or thousands of dollars to the cost of an airline ticket.

The report also disclosed that port officials dine at top-tier restaurants and stay at pricey hotels and resorts while traveling on the public’s business.

The port reimbursed commissioners and executives for items such as breath mints, laundry and $49 prime rib dinners, according to documents obtained under the California Public Records Act.

Revisions to the port travel policy do little to curb those costs, however. Commissioners and port executives tend to stay at nicer hotels, where conferences and meals are scheduled months in advance.

Port officials say travel is a key way to expand commerce. By visiting specific ports of call around the globe and attending trade conferences or other events, the port is able to build its business, officials say.

The revised policy, which shrank from 44 pages to 18, also does away with the practice of reimbursing for expenses of up to $25 without a receipt for executives and commissioners. The new rules require documentation for every reimbursement.

“This is an exemplary port that can take something as complicated as travel and come out with a thinner document,” Chairman Lou Smith said.

The stricter policy also calls on board members to report to the full commission on the merits of each trip upon their return, and provides that all bookings are secured through an in-house travel coordinator.

Travel spending by the port, which manages the tidelands around San Diego Bay for five cities, has come into greater focus in part because the district has trimmed both staff and services in recent years.

“For the past two years, the port has been in survival mode,” its 2011-12 budget states. “At one point, port employees were told to stop spending on anything that wasn’t mission critical.”

Community reaction to the travel spending was swift and mostly critical. For several weeks, port officials defended their practices, but by late spring they indicated the policy was being re-examined.

“We have a lot of board policies and they are reviewed periodically,” spokeswoman Michelle Ganon said. “We recognized the need to tighten it up.”